Courage
by bamakid1272
Summary: Rainbow Dash has always been the bravest pegasus in Equestria, but is she brave enough to risk it all? Oneshot  unless someone convinces me to make a sequel . No shipping intended.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, I'm bamakid1272, and before I say anything else, if you got an update message about me and are here to see an Update to my fanfic "Welcome Home", then you can leave. It's My Little Pony, so yeah. Now I'll explain why I made this story. I made this for an assignment in my English class. We were told to write a fictional story about our definition of courage. I saw this, and instatntly thought to make a fanfic out of it. I had been wanting to make a MLP fanfic for a while, and this gave me a reason to. Now, if you're a "Welcome Home" fan and still reading this, then let me tell you no it isn't dead. I just haven't been able to wrk on it. This story wouldn't have happened at all if I didn't have that assignment. So I'm not trying to get out of "Welcome Home", I just needed to make something and the assignment gave me the chance. And I think I'm done with that, so you can leave now if you want to.

Now, those of you here for THIS story, all I have to say is that I know this is a very old and unoriginal idea, but like I said, I did this for a school assignment. I wrote the whole thing in one night, and did some editing the next afternoon. And that's it. So I'm not expecting this to be considered of top quality. But for a 17 year old who wrote this in one night, I don't think it's half bad. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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><p>Courage<p>

_"Courage isn't about not having any fears . . ."_

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><p>There she was, standing on top of the clouds. She could feel the wind in her multi colored mane. She could feel its presence nearing. It was coming. Fast.<p>

Rainbow Dash was always considered a brave and heroic pegasus. She was always there to save the day, always there to help her friends, always there to be, well, Rainbow Dash. She was the fastest, coolest, loyalist, and most courageous pony in all of Equestria. She could take on any challenge somepony gave her, and pass it with literally flying colors. She wasn't afraid of anything. At least that's what she told herself.

This . . . thing, whatever it was, had apparently already left a huge path of destruction behind. Manehatten and Fillydelphia barley survived its attacks, and those were huge cities. No way was a small town like Ponyville going to survive. If it hit, then everything would be gone. City Hall. The library. Sweet Apple Acres. Sugar Cube Corner. Rarity's boutique. Everything. All of it, gone. She couldn't let it all be destroyed. Yet, was she willing to risk it all? Could she really face her one true fear?

Was she willing to face death?

NO! She was Rainbow Dash! She wasn't afraid of anything! She would show it who's boss and trot out of there in ten seconds flat! It didn't have a chance!

And then she saw it.

It looked like any normal thunderstorm, but something was off. It just . . . felt evil. It sent shivers down her spine.

"C'mon Rainbow, you can do this. Remember what Twilight said."

– –

_One hour ago._

"_Girls, I'm afraid I have some bad news."_

_All six of them were sitting in the library. Twilight Sparkle had used her unicorn magic to teleport to each of their homes, telling them to get to the library as fast as possible. None of them could get an answer as to why. All she said was that it was urgent, and that Equestria was in major trouble._

"_As I'm sure you've noticed, the weather has been acting strange lately."_

"_Yeah, I have. Consarnit Rainbow, I thought the weather patrol said that we were gonna have sunny weather for the entire week. Now I have to deal wit this here storm getting in the way of harvesting the crops." Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a look of annoyance._

"_Hey, it's not our fault! These winds are coming out of nowhere, and these clouds are shooting out rain on their own! We can't control it!"_

_Twilight decided to step in before the argument could get any worse "She's right, AJ. It's not the pegasi's fault." She used her magic to raise a piece of paper with elegant writing on it. "Princess Celestia sent this letter to me earlier. She says that some kind of dark force has been causing major damage across Equestrian. And apparently, it's heading for Ponyville next."_

_A look of worry spread across all of their faces. Except for Dash. She was ready for action. But before she could comment, a white unicorn asked the question the others were wanting to hear. "Uh, Darling, how bad are we talking exactly?"_

_Twilight looked at Rarity, her face sullen and fearful. "Manehatten and Fillydelphia were . . . they were . . ."_

_Dash was getting impatient "Well, spit it out Twilight!"_

_"They were almost completely wiped out . . ." It hit everyone instantly. Even Rainbow Dash flinched, but she managed to keep any sign of fear from showing. Her yellow pegasus friend was the exact opposite._

_"Th-they're g-gone . . .?" The fear was oozing out of Fluttershy's voice, and tears were already starting to drip down her face._

_"That's not okie dokie at all." Even the always chirpy Pinkie Pie was unnaturally still._

_Dash refused to just sit there without taking any action. "Well, we aren't just gonna sit here and wait are we? There's gotta be something we can do."_

_Twilight bit her lip. "It would take too long to get the Elements of Harmony from Canterlot. However, the Princess did mention another option. It involves you Rainbow Dash."_

_The cyan pegasus couldn't help but swell with pride. "Alright, let's hear it! I'll have it done in no time at all!"_

_Twilight looked at her, but not with hope, but with worry. "It's not that simple Rainbow Dash . . ."_

_– – _

A Sonic Rainboom, that's all it would take. All she had to do was cause one right in the center of the storm. Simple, right? Dash would take care of this like always and then she'd go home and Pinkie Pie would throw a party for how awesome she was. All of Ponyville would show up, showering her with praise. The Wonderbolts might even come and offer her a spot on the team! Yeah, all she had to do was take care of this small annoyance to Equestria, then everypony would know her name!

Her friends were just worrying about nothing. Twilight was known to blow things out of proportion all the time. Fluttershy is afraid of everything, of course she'd be against Dash going. Rarity being the drama queen she is would obviously go on about the "perils" Dash would be in. Applejack was just jealous, that's why she was acting weird and saying it was too risky.

But Pinkie. Pinkie was always optimistic. She always supported Rainbow Dash in everything she did. But she . . .

– –

_"Don't do it, Dashie!" The pinky pony held on to her cyan friend as tight as she could._

_"Pinkie, let go!" Dash was struggling to get her off, but to no avail._

_"Rainbow, this is crazy!" Twilight and her other three friends were standing behind the two. "You can't risk it your own life! There's enough time for us to evacuate everypony! We can get them to safety! There's no need for you to die!"_

_"Yeah, and just let whatever that thing is destroy Ponyville! Nuh-uh, I'm not letting that happen!"_

_"Rainbow, please darling, think about what you're doing. This isn't some small little nuisance that you can take care of with that ruffian attitude of yours!" Rarity tried to convince Dash herself, a task made difficult while comforting Fluttershy, who was full blown sobbing at this point._

_As much as Dash wanted to crack a joke about how sophisticated Rarity always acted, now wasn't the time. "I know what I'm doing!"_

_Applejack temper finally reached its peak. "No, ya don't! You're runnin' off inta the action without usin' yer brain like you always do! Stop bein' so hotheaded and think things through fer once!" _

_That was it. She had enough. With one fierce buck, she knocked Pinkie off of her, and looked back one more time. Pinkie was staring at her with a begging look, tears already flowing out of her eyes. "Dashie, please . . ."Rainbow Dash looked at the ground and closed her eyes, fighting back tears of her own. Of all the things she wanted to say, she could only get two words out._

"_I'm sorry."_

_She took off, flying as fast as she could, wanting to escape. But she wasn't fast enough to outrun Pinkie Pie's scream._

**"RAINBOW DASH!"**

**– – **

Rainbow Dash shed another tear before looking up. It was much closer now, lightning shooting from all angles. This was it. It was now or never. But she couldn't. She was afraid. She broke down sobbing, thrashing about the cloud.

"I can't do this! I'm afraid! I'm too afraid!" She started to calm down and just sat on the cloud. "I'm not the brave pony everyone thinks I am. How can I have courage when I'm too afraid to help everypony. My friends are much braver than I am. Heck, Fluttershy was even able to stand up to a dragon when I couldn't." She looked down and closed her eyes. "I'm not courageous at all."

_"Having courage doesn't mean not having any fears."_

Dash's head shot up. She remembered that voice. It had been so long, but she remembered. "Mom . . ."

_"Everypony is afraid of something, sweetie. But those who have courage are willing to face those fears, even when they are afraid."_

She remembered her mom telling her that when she was a filly. It had been years, but she remembered it clearly. She just had a nightmare, and was too afraid to go back to sleep. But here mom was there. She encouraged her, showed her what it really meant to have courage.

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. "Thanks, mom" Then she spread her wings, and took off. She flew higher and higher, even above the great storm. She kept going until she was at just the right height. She looked down. It was getting closer and closer to Ponyville. Now was the time to act. She took in a deep breath, and looked towards the Celestia's sun setting in the horizon. She gave a small smile, then shot downwards towards the storm.

She kept going faster and faster, not letting up for a second. Soon, she entered the cloud. Lightning was flashing all around her, and thunder was consistently booming in her ears. But she didn't stop. She kept going.

As she was falling, she remembered the good times she had with her friends. Listening to Twilight Sparkle go on and on about some kind of science stuff, helping Applejack on the apple farms, trying to sit still while Rarity used her as a model for making a dress, trying to help Fluttershy face her own fears, enjoying one of Pinkie Pie's famous parties, working together to beat Nightmare Moon. She remembered all the moments they had together, laughing and playing. She hoped that maybe, just maybe, they could have more moments like that.

She looked around and saw the cone of air forming around her. She kept going, fighting the urge to give up. She was so tired, but she was so close. The cone tightened. Only a few moments now. She closed her eyes and let one last tear fall. Then she smiled.

Suddenly, the cone burst open into a circle, a light spectrum shooting out in all directions. Rainbow Dash cracked her eyes open one last time to see the clouds all start flying inwards towards her. She did it. She was able to face her fears and save her friends. And that was her last thought before she finally blacked out.

– –

On the outside, the giant cloud stopped moving before it started to cave in on itself. It shrunk to about three fourths its size, before exploding out. While pieces of it began to slowly break apart, the biggest sight was a huge circular light spectrum slicing it in half, spreading out farther and farther. The pieces of the cloud kept getting smaller and smaller, until there were no more signs of the monster that threatened the town.

The threat had been vanquished. All that was left in the sky were the setting sun, the Sonic Rainboom, and a small object in freefall towards the ground. It was motionless, not taking any action to slow up, until it finally fell behind the tree line of the distant forest . . .

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><p>"<em>Courage isn't about not having any fears . . .<em>

_it's about being willing to face those fears."_


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, yeah, I made an update. This is the third time I'm writing an author's note, and I'm sick of it. Anyways, I decided to seperate this into two different chapters, so there will be a 3rd chapter. However, I don't plan to take as long as I did for this last update. I seperated for two reasons. 1. To get something updated, and 2. so the chapters sizes wouldn't be so uneven. So, I should have part 3 out soon (and this time I mean it), so I hope this will satisfy you for now.

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><p>Rainbow Dash slowly began to stir. She felt her head throbbing, and her legs wobbled as she tried to stand. Her vision was blury, but wherever she was, it was dark. She tried to inspect for any injuries, but strangely found none. No broken bones, no cuts, she couldn't even feel any bruises. She flapped her wings, but they were working properly. Something wasn't right. It was one thing to survive, but to come out of her little escaped totally uninjured? There was no way. Her vision finally cleared, and she noticed her location wasn't just dark, but was pitch black. She couldn't make out any form of object in the darkness. It was nothingness. There was no light source, yet somehow, she could see herself clearly. She raised a hoof to her face, and she noticed it had an etheral white glow to it. Something was definately off.<p>

"Wh-where am I?"

_"Nowhere, at the moment."_

Rainbow Dash jumped. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was deep and booming, and had a sinister tone.

"Who are you?"

_"I have gone by many names, in many different languages, by many different civilizations, over many different generations. But they all have one thing in common . . ."_

Suddenly a part of the darkness began to take on a shape. It began as a ball, until four limbs slowly extended form its bottom. Another, much larger extension, began to protrude from the side facing Rainbow Dash. The ball began to shrink, and slowly it took the form of a large pony, similar to Celestia. Its coat was black, but could still be cleary defined in the darkness. It gave off a glow similar Rainbow Dash, but it was a dark grey and seemed to flow off like steam. A horn bagan to form on it's head, but was cut short and left jagged, as if it had been broken off. It then extened a pair of wings, but many of the feathers were missing. It opened its eyes to reveal to bright red solid orbs. Even though it had no pupils to show where it was looking, Rainbow Dash could still feel its gaze boring into her.

_"They all mean Death."_

_– –_

"Pinkie, where are you going?"

Pinkie Pie turned around to see her unicorn friend, Twilight Sparkle, giving her a curious look, the light from the library making her easily visible in the night. Behind her were the rest of her friends. Well, except for the one she was about to search for.

"Well, duh, to find Rainbow Dash, silly. The big bad monster is gone, so I gotta go find Dashie so we can have a party!"

Twilight sighed. She looked at Pinkie with sullen eyes. "Pinkie, the chances of Dash making it out of there were miniscule, at best. She would of had to hit it at kust the right spot at just the right time. Dash wasn't one for patience and timing, she was all about action, and . . ."

Pinkie gave her a quizical look. "Why do you keep talking about Dash in past tense? It's not like she's someone who isn't around anymore. For a bookworm, you sure aren't very good at grammer." Pinkie gave her the most innocent smile.

Twilight flinched at Pinkie's statement. "Pinkie, she isn't around anymore. We won't see her again. Pinkie, sh-"

"What, is she moving or something? Aw, I want to throw a party, but not THAT kind of party. Hm, maybe I can throw such an awesome party, she'll want to stay! Yeah, I just got to show her how fun Ponyville is! Then she'll-"

Applejack couldn't take anymore. She couldn't control her temper, she just had to let it loose. "Dagnabbit, Pinkie! She ain't movin'! She ain't anywhere in Equestria, or the planet! She's dead!" Twilight and Rarity gave their cowpony friend shocked looks, while Fluttershy laid oon the ground with her eyes covered, slowly renewing her sobs.

Pinkie just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Dead? what are you talking about? Dashie isn't dead, silly. She's jus-"

"No she ain't Pinkie! Ya heard what Twi said 'bout tha plan! It would kill her! We went over everything, but Dash went ahead guns a blazin' anyways, and now she's dead! D-E-A-D, **DEAD**! Quit tryin' ta ignore tha truth and jus' accept it!" Her eyes were filled with rage, and her teeth were clenched. Air was quickly flowing in and out her nostrils.

Pinkie gave her a hurt look. "You can't really believe that, can you AJ? Twilight, tell her it isn't true." She looked to Twilight, but the purple unicorn gave no response. She merely closed her eyes and lowered her head. She looked at Rarity, then Fluttershy, but neither gave any motions to back her up. Pinkie's mane began to straighten, and tears started welling up in her eyes. "Fine, if you're all gonna be a bunch of grumpy wumpies, then I'll just find Dashie by myself!" She quickly turned around and galloped off into the darkness as her friends watched her dissapear.

Twilight began to call after her, but gave up as she realized it was no use. She then glared at Applejack, who was still looking towards the direction Pinkie ran off to. "You know, you didn't have to be so harsh."

Applejack snapped her head towards the purple mare, still giving the same harsh look. "She needed ta learn that she can't deny tha truth. Rainbow's gone and ain't nuthin' gonna change that." The orange pony got up and walked into the library.

Twilight was about to retort, until she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Rarity shaking her head to let her know to not push the point any further. "Just let it go, dear. Applejack may seem harsh, but it's only her way of acting upset, like we all are. We each just have different ways of showing it. Best we just go in and let everyone cool down. Right now, you should worry about explaining everything to Spike when he wakes up in the morning. I can't imagine how the poor thing will handle it."

Twilight sighed and looked at Rarity with tired eyes. "You're right. I'm sorry, this is just way too much. I always figured we'd lose Rainbow Dash first with her lifestyle, but not now. Not like this." Tears began to return to her eyes, and she soon found herself in the white unicorn's embrace. She gladly returned it.

"I know it's hard. For all of us. But we've managed to get through everything before, and we can get through this. It will be quite the challenge, but we can make it. Come on let's get inside." The two of them began to trot towards the door, until Rarity remembered another certain pony. "Coming, Fluttershy?" She turned her head, only to find a certain yellow pegasus nowhere in site.

_– –_

This couldn't be happeneing. She was dead. She was really dead. All of her dreams, crushed. She would never get to be a wonderbolt. All of that training, all of that effort. Worthless. Hey at least se went out with a bang, right? She would recognized as a hero! Everypony would know her name! Yeah her friends would . . .

Her friends. It finally struck her. The fame was one thing, but she was leaving behind something far more important. She closed her eyes as tears started rolling down her face. How could she be so reckless. They tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen. They cared for her. They wanted to keep her safe. But she blew them off, and now she would never get to see them again, now that she was de-

_"You're not dead yet."_

Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open and stared at the entity before her. "What do you mean?"

The dark pony gave her an annoyed look. _"Exactly what what said. You're not dead. Well, not yet at least. You're very close, but you haven't crossed over completely."_

Dash's hopes began to rise. "Wait, so you mean I might live!" She shot into the air, and began flying in circles. Everything was going to be fine! All of her friends would be there waiting for her to get back so they could have a huge party for how awesome she was. "So when do I get to go back?"

_"When you are able to defeat me."_

Rainbow froze in place. "Wh-what?"

Death gave her a sinister smirk. _"Normally, my job is to simply take ponies who have passed on into their appropriate afterlife, depending on how they lived their life. However, sometimes their are special cases, such as yourself. Due to varying circumstances, they are able to hold on to their connection to the mortal world longer than most ponies should be able to. So yes, you have a chance. However . . ."_ His grin turned into a full malicious smile. _"That's when I get to have fun. I'm supposed to test you. Push you to your limit. If you somehow pass, you get to return to the world of the living. If not, then I drag you to the afterlife myself."_ His face warped back to its expressionless look. _Don't worry, though, this won't affect where you go. Even if you accept the challenge and lose, you still get to go to wherever you were already heading for. By that way, your destination is Paradise, ao are you sure you want to go back?"_ His sinister look returned.

Rainboiw Dash shaking. Was he already testing her? She was terrified, and she sensed he knew it. This was going to be tough.

_"Think about it. Eternal happiness is waiting right there for you. Plenty of open skies, clear weather all the time, no worries at all. Nothing but complete bliss."_ Suddenly, his face was inches from hers. _"Do you_ really _want to go back to that old life of yours?"_

Rainbow Dash refused to give in. "No! I won't! I can wait, there's too much for me to do back home! I'm already happy with my current life!"

Death wouldn't be detered. _"Oh you're definately a fighter."_ His aura flared, creating the illusion that we was on fire. _"That will just make your fall so much sweeter . . ."_


End file.
